UN launches Afghan aid appeal

Millions are facing starvation this winter

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has launched an emergency appeal for $584m to aid millions of Afghans facing starvation in Afghanistan and bordering countries.

Mr Annan said that Afghanistan and its neighbours have seen a 50% increase in the number of people relying on aid for survival, from five million to 7.5m people.

The crisis in Afghanistan is already serious, but we also have to be ready to deal with extra dimensions of the crisis

Kofi Annan

Mr Annan said he was seeking the funds for a new six-month UN plan to deal with the crisis, which the UN describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Earlier UK Prime Minister Tony Blair called for a "humanitarian coalition" to help the people of Afghanistan, saying that international aid to tackle the effect of years of war and famine must go alongside any military action.

Click here for map of Afghanistan

Almost half the money being sought by the UN - $273m - will go to the UN refugee agency to handle an increase of 1.5m people who are expected to flee Afghanistan amid fears of impending US attacks.

Another $188m is earmarked for food aid.

Thousands are setting up home in refugee camps

"The crisis in Afghanistan is already serious, but we also have to be ready to deal with extra dimensions of the crisis," Mr Annan said as he launched the appeal.

Millions of Afghans were already dependent on outside aid for their survival after decades of war and three years of severe drought

The situation worsened when foreign aid workers left the country as the US threatened retaliation against the Taleban for harbouring Osama Bin Laden, the man suspected of masterminding the terror attacks in America.

Air drops

Pakistan and Iran are already hosting 3.5 million Afghan refugees - the largest refugee group in the world.

But while thousands have been heading for surrounding countries, most Afghans are too poor and hungry even to be able to travel to the international borders, the BBC's Afghanistan correspondent Kate Clark says.

The UN is gearing up for a massive influx of refugees

Aid agencies are saying that up to eight million people inside Afghanistan are now expected to need food aid this winter.

Noting that most UN staff had already left Afghanistan, Mr Annan said "we may have to consider air drops" to deliver food.

Earlier British Prime Minister Tony Blair stressed the need to build a humanitarian coalition to tackle the crisis, insisting that the fight was against terrorism not the Afghan people.

"Our fight is not with Islam or with the people of Afghanistan. Our fight is with those who planned these terrible atrocities and those who harbour them," he said.

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